


In Strolls the Bossman

by JackiLeigh



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-05-03 21:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14577930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackiLeigh/pseuds/JackiLeigh
Summary: These are tiny little 'fixes' I've come up with for the episodes I felt needed a little help.  Where Gibbs has needed to , and failed, to step in and speak up.  Some are sort and sweet, others are pretty long.  I have tried to state the episode when I've known it.  They are in no particular order.





	1. Chapter 1

IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN

AN: These are little episodes were I felt Gibbs should have been present or, at least, should have known what was going on and intervened. Each chapter represents one specific incident. The chapters are not related, and they are not in any particular order. Tony-Centered. and absolutely AU, it is ‘what if’ after all.

And for those of you who say that Tony ‘gets away with everything’ you are mistaken. Between the head-slaps and Tony’s notoriously bad Karma, he gets away with nothing.

 

Episode 1--Aliyah

“Ziva!” Gibbs said, as he raced to the scene. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

Tony was on the ground, injured arm and all. And Ziva had a gun on him, pointing it at various parts of his body and yelling at him. Gibbs heard what she was saying as he got closer and it only caused him to pick up the pace.

“Ziva! Stop, Ziva!” Gibbs said, arriving on the scene. 

Ziva looked up at the sound of Gibbs’ voice. She stepped away from Tony and lowered her gun.

Gibbs first tended to Tony making sure his arm was not injured further. He then helped Tony up.

Gibbs then turned his attention to Ziva. “Zi….”

“He. Is. Lying.” Ziva said through clenched teeth.

“Michael was lying.” Gibbs countered, he took the gun out of her hand.

Ziva shook her head vigorously. She didn’t seem to even notice that she no longer had a weapon.

“Tony was following orders, Ziva…my orders! I had my suspicions, so did Tony. We both were watching him. Tony was following my orders. He didn’t….” Gibbs stated.

“He was not when he dumped me to talk to Michael at the café.” Ziva turned and glared at Tony.

“I ditched you.” Tony corrected her. “And Michael lied to you the whole time he was in town.”

“You were jealous! You were jealous of….” Ziva asserted.

“Is that what you think?” Tony spat back. “Is that what you really think, that you’re so damned irresistible?”

“Tony!” Gibbs said, he was losing control of this confrontation and he didn’t want a repeat performance. “DiNozzo!”

“No, Gibbs!” Tony said. “She’s been saying ‘I’m jealous,’ ‘I’m jealous’ all the time everything I say, have said, about Michael…’I’m jealous.” Tony then glared at Ziva. “I’ve got news for ya…there are women in our D.C. office a hell of a lot prettier than you. And they aren’t freakin’ homicidal maniacs.”

Gibbs, with a combination of pushing and pulling, got him away from Ziva. Once Tony was a safe distance away he said a few words to Tony. Then he came back to speak to Ziva.

“What I saw here was unacceptable.” Gibbs started.

“He….” Ziva said.

Gibbs shook his head. “Not Tony…you!”

Ziva looked at Gibbs, shocked.

“Tony is your partner. He is injured.” Gibbs stated. “But above that…you never, ever, never point a gun at your partner. It’s a fireable offence, Ziva.” Gibbs paused to allow her to absorb it all. “We are a team!”

“I did not….” Ziva started.

“We are a team, Ziva.” Gibbs started. “I cannot have my agents….”

“Tony….”

“Tony was following orders, and he was looking out for your best interests, for the best interests of the agency.” Gibbs countered.

Ziva didn’t know what else to say.

“Maybe you need to…stay here.” Gibbs started. “At least until you….”

“Gibbs…you cannot….” Ziva pleaded.

“I can’t have you on the same plane as Tony.” Gibbs said. “You need to decide your loyalties, Ziva. You trusted Michael when you shouldn’t have. That’s on you, not Tony.”

“Tony is my second in command. He was my partner…long before I ever met you.” Gibbs admitted. “You don’t have to believe what he says. But trust me when I tell you he was trying to look after his partner.” Gibbs replied.

Ziva opened her mouth to speak. 

“No, Ziva! You held a loaded gun on a federal agent, an injured federal agent, at that.” Gibbs asserted. “I have every right to fire you! And I’m not sure Vance won’t, not once he hears about it.”

“Vance…you can’t…?”

“I have to report this to Vance.” Gibbs paused. “Make up your mind, Ziva…NCIS or Mossad.” Gibbs turned and walked towards Tony who was standing a short distance from the two of them, watching.

“DiNozzo…” Gibbs said, leading him away. “…come on. We have a plane to catch.”

THE END

 

 

Episode 2—Dead Air

 

“DiNozzo…what’s going on?” Gibbs asked, after watching Tony stare into the bottom of his glass of bourbon.

Tony looked up at Gibbs and then back down at his untouched bourbon. He sat the jar down on the step beside him.

“It…it’s nothing.” Tony said.

Gibbs could tell that Tony was struggling with something. He put down his sandpaper and picked up his own Mason jar. He sat down on the step below Tony.

“What…tell me!” Gibbs demanded, gently.

“I just…I can’t believe it.” Tony replied, looking up at Gibbs. “I don’t get why they would even joke about such a thing.”

“What, Tony? What is it?” Gibbs asked, his gut churning.

Tony shook his head.

“Tell me, DiNozzo.”

“Since when does my life not mean anything?” Tony asked shaking his head.

“Tony?” Gibbs asked, concerned. “What are you talking about?”

“The case we just finished….” Tony started.

Gibbs nodded.

“While I was walking around the neighborhood…talking to all those people. I just…I can’t believe they would do something like that.” Tony said, interrupting himself. He shook his head.

“You can’t believe who would do what, Tony?” Gibbs asked.

“When I got back to the car Ziva and Tim said they had not been listening to the recording. They turned it off or down or something…I don’t know.” Tony said, shaking his head again.

“They…what?” Gibb asked, shocked and angry. He started to pace.

“They turned it off!” Tony continued.

Gibbs paused his pacing and looked at Tony. 

“That’s what they said. They turned it off or down. Whatever it was, they weren’t listening to it. I tried to take it like they said, as a joke.” Tony replied. “But there is nothing about it that’s funny, Gibbs. I could have…anything could have happened. And my….so-called backup would have been clueless.”

Gibbs was livid. He wanted to choke them both with his bare hands, so it was very good, for them, that they were not present. Gibbs picked up his Mason jar of bourbon and flung it, with all his might, against the fall wall. It exploded on impact.

 

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

 

“Elevator. Now! Both of you” Gibb said as soon as he walked into the bullpen. He sat his coffee on his desk and headed back towards the elevator, expecting Tim and Ziva to fallow him. He stopped on and waited for Ziva and Tim to get on before he spoke. They could both sense his anger, but had no idea about its cause.

“Anything you want to tell me about yesterday?” Gibbs asked wanting to give them a chance to own up to what had happened.

Both Tim and Ziva shook their heads.

“Really? So…not backing your partner…that’s not anything I need to know about?” Gibbs said, getting angrier and angrier.

Tim and Ziva looked at one another, as if checking their stories.

“Tell me, Damnet! Stop that, and tell me what the hell happened!” Gibbs demanded.

“We…” Tim replied, studying the floor. “…we got tired of hearing him talk.”

“We turned it down so that we could not hear it.” Ziva replied. “But it was still recording so I do not….”

“Yeah, it was still recording. Ziva.” Gibbs growled. “But that’s hardly the point. You were there to provide back up, Ziva. Back up to a partner out in the field. And how would you know what he was doing…out in the field, if you were not listening?”

“It was a joke, Gibbs.” Tim started and Ziva echoed.

Gibbs nodded. “Good, since it was a joke, let’s see how much you’re laughing when you have to go back through FLECT training. See how funny it is when you have to have to recertify for weapons and redo your psych evals. And then you’ll get to go through NCIS training again.”

Both Tim and Ziva started to speak. Gibbs continued, ignored them.

“And you’re going to roll around on the floor in laughter when you have to reapply for your jobs.” Gibbs replied. “I just hope, for your sakes. I haven’t found any suitable replacements.”

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 3—Dead Air

 

“Hey Abs.” Gibbs replied, strolling into the lab.

“What’s up, Bossman?” Abby asked, she had no clue why Gibbs was there. She had no results for him, yet.

“I need to know if you can patch into where Tim and Ziva are…into where they are recording Tony.” Gibb replied, his gut churning.

Abby started pushing buttons. “Your gut?”

Gibbs nodded.

Abby made the connection and then handed Gibbs a head set so that he could listen. He stood and listened for a few moments. Then he couldn’t hear Tony anymore. He looked at Abby. “What happened?”

Abby shook her head as her hands flew over the keyboard. “The microphone is in working order. I just…I think they turned if off.” She guessed, surprised as Gibbs was.

“They what?” Gibbs asked.

“They turned the microphone off. That’s why nothing is coming through, Boss.” Abby stated.

Gibbs pulled his phone and started to furiously dial numbers. He started yelling into the phone just as he exited the lab.

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 4—Boxed In

 

Gibbs looked at Tony for just a moment. He saw the hurt look in the young man’s eyes.

“Tony, I had no idea.” Gibbs stared at Ziva. “…next time, Ziva.” The implied meaning being that Tony would be invited to her next diner party, if the other team members were.

Ziva got the message. She nodded.

Gibbs went over to Tony’s desk. “Come on, Kid. I see beer and cowboy steaks, when you’re better, in our near future.”

Tony nodded and smiled. He grabbed his bag and let Gibbs guide him out the door.

 

THE END

 

Episode 5—Various episodes

This involves one particular line an episode where Tony and Kate are in Mexico. In the episode Tony tells her that he is in charge and Kate says he’s not. She is saying something about Tony not being able to tell her what to do. In the episode she comes off really bratty-sounding. I just really thought her attitude stunk.

 

“The insubordination has got to stop, Kate.” Gibbs replied, after he called her into his conference room one day.

Kate started to speak.

Gibbs shook his head. “He’s your superior. Your hand-picked superior, Kate, Tony is the only person I have ever, ever hand-picked.” He waited for particular piece of information to sink in before he continued. “The snide comments, the little jokes….”

“You hand-picked me.” Kate replied.

Gibbs shook his head. “No, I didn’t, I hoped you out when you were down on your luck. I extended an offer because I saw potential there, Kate. But when I saw Tony in action in Baltimore….” Gibbs shook his head. “I liked what I saw.”

“You took pity on me, that’s what you’re saying?” Kate asked.

“I took advantage of a situation.” Gibbs asserted.

“But, Tony….” Kate said exasperated.

“You and Tim cannot be SFA’s. Read the reqs sometimes, Kate. It’s obvious you haven’t.” Gibbs said, then he pushed the button and exited the elevator.

Kate left the elevator shaken. What did Gibbs means, she didn’t qualify? Of course, she qualified. If Anthony DiNozzo could…. She stopped, mid-sentence.

Kate had rushed back to her desk and checked out the reqs as soon as she got off the elevator with Gibbs. He was right. She didn’t have the combination of education and experience to qualify. Kate leaned back in her chain, deflated and in shock. She had not missed in her research that Tony had additional degrees. She just assumed that they were bought with dad’s money. It’s amazing what a large chunk of change can buy you.

But then it occurred to Kate, Tony had told her that his dad had disinherited him, which meant that there was no money. How did one get a masters of anything with no money?

Gibbs could tell she had read the reqs. “It shouldn’t have taken this to get you to open your eyes. You, as junior agents, are under the leadership of a Senior Field Agent who is under the leadership of a Team Leader. It’s called chain of command. I would have thought the Secret Service would have made you understand that. But since you didn’t get it or you chose not to get it, this is your first reprimand and that was your warning. Tony is your SFA. He’s in the position because he has earned it, and he’s good at it. You will respect the position and the person in it because you are a federal agent who is capable of doing her job.” Gibbs said, glaring at her. “And this will not happen again. Do I make myself clear?”

Kate swallowed and nodded, unsure if she could speak the words.

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 6—Hiatus (or Hiatus-related)

 

Gibbs waited until Tony was far enough away that he couldn’t hear before he pulled Ziva and Tim over to talk to him.

“This behavior is inexcusable.” Gibbs hissed. “I don’t know all that happened while I was gone. But I’m back now. I left Tony in charge because he was very capable of doing the job.”

Tim started to open his mouth.

Gibbs glared at him. “I would suggest, Agent McGee, if you like your job and you want to keep it…that you will keep your opinions about Agent DiNozzo to yourself!” He said, cutting Tim off at the knee. “That goes for you too, Officer David!”

Gibbs watched their expressions then he continued. 

“I treated Tony badly. That will be remedied, very shortly. But that still does not give you two…two supposedly professional federal agents, an excuse to act the way you have.” Gibb explained. “Insubordination is a serious offense; consider this your first write up and warning. I don’t plan on issuing a second.”

They had been back in the office about an hour when Gibbs stood up and cleared his throat. His team all looked up from their work. And so did a few people in the immediate vicinity of the bullpen. Gibbs cleared his throat again, louder this time, more people looked up.

“I would like to have everyone’s attention, please.” Gibbs then gestured to Tony to stand. By this time, Gibbs had the attention of everyone present. “I just wanted to thank Agent Anthony DiNozzo for the fine job he did in my absence.” Gibbs took Tony’s hand a shook it. He then looked Tony in the eyes. “Thank you, for everything, Kid.” He said the words loaded with meaning. 

Gibbs waited for everyone to go back to work before he said the next part. “I should have called you, Tony.”

Tony nodded and smiled. He then knew, for sure, that Gibbs had seen and had understood how Tony had felt when he came in and found Gibbs back at work and all those files dumped back on his desk.

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 7—Judgment Day

 

“Hey!” Gibbs said as he grabbed his SFA by the arm. They stood to the side of the door of the crime scene as Vance and Ziva continued to take boxes out of the place.

“Gibbs, I’m….” Tony shook his head. “…I should have just followed her. I should have. I should have been here. I….” He shook his head again.

Gibbs shook his head. “Shepard had her own agenda with this job, DiNozzo. I didn’t know it. Few people did.” He patted Tony’s arm. “You are not to blame for this. You followed orders, as you should have.”

Tony looked unconvinced as Gibbs continued.

“Jenny had unfinished business here. This was unfinished business, nothing to do with you, with NCIS, or with the directorship. She was on her own, as she should have been.” Gibbs replied. “She’d used the agency since she took the job. She used you. She’d done enough.”

“Gibbs….” Tony started.

Gibbs shook his head. “She started it. Maybe…this is how she wanted it to end. You did your job, DiNozzo. End of story.”

 

THE END

 

FYI: I was writing these things at work. So I didn’t have my DVDs for reference, if you see any issues, let me know. If it’s minor, I probably won’t change it, just because it’s AU anyway. But if it’s a major thing that I just got completely wrong, I will consider it. It’s still AU, but I want to have my facts straight.

Are there other episodes where Gibbs should have intervened on Tony’s behalf? Or are there other incidences were Tony could have handled things a little bit different? If I agree with you, I may do my take on it.

Hope you enjoyed.

 

 

PART 2

Thanks, so much, to you guys for wanting more and for your suggestions. I couldn’t remember all those while I was sitting at work trying to write this. So they are much appreciated.

 

Episode 8--Missing

 

Besides being dirty and tired, Tony just wanted to go home. He approached his desk, and then stopped seeing it was occupied.

Gibbs made his joke. He then looked at Tony. “McGee borrowed your desk since you weren’t going to be here today.” Gibb could see how tired Tony was. “Go home, Tony, get some rest. Things will be back to normal tomorrow.”

Tony nodded, smiled and headed to the elevator.

THE END

 

Episode 9—The Missionary Position

 

Gibbs looked at Ziva David not sure he was believing what he was hearing.

“I want to know what you mean by that, Ziva.” Gibbs said, calling her out in front of her team mates and the visitors.

Ziva looked at Gibbs, a little surprised. “I do not….”

“What did you mean, Agent David?” Gibbs said harder, demanding an answer.

Gibbs waited but an answer did not come.

“Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo is not useless on this mission, Agent David.” Gibbs tried to hold his anger in check. “DiNozzo is going because you need someone from NCIS to watch your six.”

Ziva started to speak.

“I know you trust your friend. But I don’t know her. I know Tony.” Gibbs paused. “This is an NCIS mission, Ziva. That means I’m in charge. I get to say who goes where. You may not appreciate the skill set that DiNozzo has. But he does have skills. He knows things you don’t.”

Ziva looked at him and opened her mouth to protest.

Gibbs shook his head. “Tony is a valuable member of my team, Ziva, not dead weight. Being Mossad doesn’t make you superior to anyone. All three of you will go or none of you will go. I will be writing you up for insubordination. And then you can go and explain to the Director…. Tony has gotten many commendations and has been on my team for years. But you can explain to Director Vance how he made such a huge mistake keeping DiNozzo on the payroll.”

THE END

 

 

Episode 10—Dead Men Talking

 

Gibb waited until Tony had left. “That’s enough, Kate.”

Kate just looked at Gibbs, her chuckles quickly dying away.

“Tony picks at you. He makes fun. He jokes with you.” Gibbs said. “But he would never say anything that would intentionally hurt you.”

Gibbs then headed to the elevator, not giving Kate an opportunity to reply.

 

THE END

 

Episode 11—Requiem

 

Gibbs looked up at his SFA. He was soaking wet and breathing heavily. Gibbs moved his hand to touch Tony’s knee.

Tony looked down at him, and their eyes met.

“You…okay?” Gibbs mouthed.

Tony nodded, unable to speak.

“…thank…you.” Gibbs mouthed again.

Tony nodded and smiled, having recovered a little.

Tony was able to walk with Gibbs’ stretcher to the ambulance by the time he was loaded.

Gibbs took Tony’s hand just as he was getting in the ambulance and wouldn’t let go.

“Gibbs…Boss!”

“…lungs…going…!” Gibbs managed to say.

“Gibbs!” Tony said, trying to gently pull away. Gibbs just held on tighter.

“Now!” Gibbs demanded.

Tony sighed and got into the back of the ambulance after they loaded Gibbs in.

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 12—Family

I remember it was around this time, I think this episode or the next were Tim makes a disparaging remark about Tony’s undercover work. He said he should have gotten that op. I think Gibbs would have a very…interesting and effective way to help him see the error of his ways.

 

“Okay, I have a little test for you. Your cover is Kevin Brooks. And every time Kevin hears the key word he needs to respond with the phrase “That’s right”. And he needs to respond in a southern accent.” Gibbs stated.

Tim looked at Gibbs like he was nuts. “I don’t see….”

“Just do it, McGee, humor me.” Gibbs cajoled.

Tim nodded. “Okay.”

“The word’s reconsider.” Gibbs replied.

Tim nodded again, preparing himself. “Okay, I’m Kevin Brooks, with a southern accent, and my word’s reconsider, to which I respond ‘that’s right’. Got it!”

Gibbs and the team went back to work. They were soon called out into the field. Tony and Ziva played their parts, testing Tim at various points, both inside and outside the office during the day.

Tim was beaming by the end of the day. He had done well, or so he thought. He was about to power down his computer and leave for the day when Gibbs called him over to his desk.

“I see you believe you did well.” Gibbs started.

“I only messed up once when you called me Kevin and I didn’t answer.” Tim admitted.

“There is no margin for error here, Tim, not when you’re undercover. One mess up will get you killed. You missed a cue once with me, your name, that’s right. But you completely missed Tony’s and Ziva’s cues.” Gibbs stated.

“But they weren’t…you didn’t….” Tim started. He had no idea Tony and Ziva were even a part of the experiment.

“When you’re undercover, McGee, everybody’s ‘involved.’” Tony replied. “If Jimmy or Ducky had said the word ‘reconsider’, you were supposed to react to it. When you’re working undercover you become that person. You become, in your case, Kevin Brooks, and you practice your southern accent until you have it down perfectly.”

“Your op would have been over in 3 hours, Tim. Tony stayed under for months.” Gibbs replied. “You couldn’t do it, not many people can. It takes special skills to pull it off, especially the long-term covers.”

Tim looked at Gibbs in surprise. He nodded. His comment about Tony’s undercover work was what started all this.

“I just…I guess…I’m sorry, Tony.” Tim said. “You made it look easy… and kinda fun.”

Tony began to grin. “That’s what we ‘pros’ do.” 

THE END

 

Thanks to everybody who suggested ‘episodes’ for me to write. I appreciate all your suggestions and I have tabled a few of them. (I have to rewatch the ep first.) Thanks for all your help and your wonderful comments and reviews. Thanks, JackiLeigh

 

 

 

PART 3

 

Episode 13—Cloak—It turns out I was wrong on my premise for this episode. Combatcrazy infomed me that the reason Abby put that sticker on Tony was because he was 4 minutes late getting to the lab to hear her results.

“Ziva! Elevator!” Gibb called.

Gibbs barely waited for the door to close before he started in on her.

“It won’t happen again, Ziva! It had better never happen again.” Gibbs stated.

Ziva shook her head, confused as to what Gibbs was talking about.

“Tony gives you an order, you follow it! Period! End of story!” Gibbs fumed.

Ziva shook her head. “Tony is an ineffective leader, and this is proof. He should not have come to you with this.”

“I agree. No, he shouldn’t have had to…. ” Gibbs agreed.

Ziva smiled and started to leave the elevator.

“…because the people under his command should be able to take his direction.” Gibbs growled.

Ziva’s smile vanished. She looked at Gibbs and realized how very angry he was. “It doesn’t matter who issues an order, Agent David. If it comes from a superior, it is to be obeyed. Tony had to tell you that I had issued the order before you would follow it.” Gibbs paused. “That’s insubordination, times two….”

Ziva opened her mouth to speak.

Gibbs shook his head. “…you refused the initial order and then you argued. Your pay will be suspended for two weeks and you will be placed on desk duty. That should give you plenty of time to review NCIS agency policy.” Gibbs glared at her. “Only after you have taken and passed all the tests and evaluations on policy will you be allowed to return to active duty.”

“In Mossad….”

Gibbs shook his head, still trying to control his anger. “Your Mossad training should have taught you how to follow orders and chain of command, Ziva.” He glared at her. “You no longer work for Mossad, Ziva you work for NCIS and I can bet that the penalty for disobeying an order there was much harsher.” Gibbs paused. “If it happens again, I’ll have your badge. Get your head out of your ass, Agent David, and do you job, because if you can’t, I will find an agent who can!”

Gibbs pushed the button to release the elevator and left without giving her a second look.

THE END

 

Episode 14—Boxed In

Gibbs looked at Tony. He had wondered why Tony was not there. And now that he was the hurt look on his face…. Anger surged through him as he looked at the smug look on Ziva’s.

Gibbs called her out. Right there, in front of everybody. “Ziva, you said, last night, that your dinner was a team function.”

Ziva nodded, still grinning.

“Yet, you didn’t invite every member of the team.” Gibbs stated as he got up and walked over to her desk.

Abby and Tim looked at Gibbs, confused as he continued.

“You lied to me when you told me that Tony had a date.” Gibbs replied. “In fact, you lied to all of us when you said that.”

“It is not a big deal.” Ziva replied. “I just wanted a nice, quiet dinner.”

“You are, indeed, entitled to a nice quiet dinner. And you can have as many as you want. I don’t care. But when you have a TEAM dinner, Zi-va. You invite every member of said team.” Gibbs replied.

Ziva opened her mouth to speak.

“Gibbs….” Tony started. He just wanted to go home. He didn’t want….this.

Gibbs shook his head.

“He is….” Ziva started to say, in protest.

“You brought it up, to begin with, because you knew how it would make Tony feel.” Gibbs said. “You added salt to the wound for the same reason.” He paused. “Not the actions of a good teammate or partner.”

Ziva tried, again, to speak.

“We have a team function, of any sort, it includes EVERY member of the team.” Gibbs paused, trying to calm himself. “Consider that your one and only warning. I won’t be issuing a second.”

THE END

 

Episode 15- Better Angels

“DiNozzo, elevator.” Gibbs said as he left the bullpen.

Tony stood up wondering what, exactly; he had done, this time.

Gibbs waited until Tony entered before he flipped this switch. “Look, I gotta go…handle some things with Jackson. I’m giving McGee the lead on this one. He did some really good computer work finding that lead. I just…I need you to keep him in line. Just don’t let him go off the deep end here. I’ll be back in a few days. Call me if you need to. But don’t need to.”

Tony nodded his understanding. Gibbs flipped the switch, letting Tony exit the elevator. Gibbs then pressed the button for the lobby.

 

Episode 16- Better Angels

“You get why McGee has the lead on this?” Gibbs asked as he and Tony sat in his basement.

Tony nodded. “Tim did some good work. And you need to take care of Jackson. How is he, by the way?”

Gibbs took a sip of his bourbon. He then shook his head. “Old-man stubbornness, senility, dementia?” He shook his head.

“That serious?” Tony asked.

“What he’s telling me doesn’t even sound possible.” Gibbs admitted.

“Well, you take care of Jackson.” Tony said, sipping his bourbon. “I promise you Timmy and I won’t run with scissors or take candy from strangers.”

Gibbs shook his head, grinning behind his glass. “Children.” He muttered.

THE END

(There may be more to come. I have not forgotten about the suggestions that you guys gave me.) And thanks again for those. I would welcome more suggestions if you want to submit them. I just can’t promise you I will use them all. And thank you, in advance, for reading, reviewing, and/or alerting. 

 

 

 

Part 4

Episode 17—Conspiracy Theory

Gibbs stood behind the two of them, giggling at their latest creation. Tony’s head was superimposed on a beefed-up shirtless body standing with another male giving the impression of homosexuality. . Abby and Kate had no idea Gibbs was there and they jumped when he spoke.

“Delete it!” Gibbs ordered. 

Abby grinned. “It’s just….”

“Delete it! Now!” Gibbs said with more force.

“Tony….” Kate started.

“Tony saw you in a picture in a wet t-shirt contest, Kate. And yeah, you were embarrassed….” Gibbs started.

Kate stared. She had no idea Gibbs knew.

Gibbs continued. “…you were embarrassed so, in exchange, you are going to get Tony beaten up or worse.”

“It was….” Kate stated.

“I don’t care what it was, Kate. We are surrounded by macho military men in the Navy Yard. And it’s quite possible that not just a few of them might be homophobic.” Gibbs hissed. “Delete it!”

Abby looked at Kate, then she deleted it.

THE END

 

Episode 18--Chimera

Gibbs and Tim found a moment or two alone, away from the others.

“So, you know what it’s like to think you’re dying?” Gibbs asked.

Tim stopped walking and looked at him.

“…simple yes or no question, McGee.”

Tim shook his head.

“But it’s okay to tease Tony about some very real fears he has about his health.” Gibbs replied. “It’s okay to make him feel like he’s being an idiot about this when even the simplest respiratory condition could turn into pneumonia for him.”

“I didn’t mean….” Tim started.

“You didn’t think, Tim.” Gibbs stated. “Yeah, he might be going a little overboard on this. But he’s scared, and he has every right to be.”

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

“You weren’t here when Tony when through this, so I’m giving you leeway on that.” Gibbs told Ziva.

“I just do not see….” Ziva started.

Gibbs smiled. “You and Tony are a lot alike.”

Ziva scoffed.

“It’s true. You like to be in control. Most people do.” Gibbs replied. “Imagine going from being a completely 100% healthy person to being someone who is so weak that he couldn’t even hold his head up, in the matter of hours. Imagine that total, complete loss of control over your health, your life, everything.”

Ziva nodded. She was trying to imagine it. And she didn’t like it.

“That is the sheer panic Tony feels whenever he thinks he could get sick. That because he’s been…compromised, that he will go right back there again, back to that place, that situation.” Gibbs stated. “And he might go a little overboard with it. But he knows what it was like better than any of us. And it was agony for those of us on the outside looking in, Ziva.” Gibbs paused. “Just…just think about what I’ve said.”

THE END

 

Episode 19—Faking It

“You feel like explaining why my agent has a bump on his head.” Gibbs asked.

“He’s clumsy.” Mike offered half-heartedly.

“He lied for you. I’m not sure why.” Gibbs stated. “…said there had to have been two or three guys. Guess he was ashamed he got knocked out by an old fool.”

“He’s a good kid, a good agent.” Mike replied.

“Then why did I find him lying unconscious on my steps?” Gibbs asked.

Mike opened his mouth to speak.

“He was there to protect you.” Gibbs replied. “You should have let him do his job.”

“He’s fine….” Mike started. He looked at Gibbs. “What…?”

“Anthony DiNozzo is my agent, Mike. I don’t like seeing him hurt. And I don’t appreciate the fact you felt you had to injure him.” Gibbs replied.

Mike stood that for just a moment, kinda pissed, kinda proud that his former probie stood up to him. He smiled.

“I am sorry, Probie. Tony is a good agent.” Mike replied. “And I like him, I do. But he needs to tone down the smartass, just a little.”

THE END

 

Episode 20—Murder 2.0

Hi, Everybody. This one is going to be slightly different. You’ll see what I mean. Enjoy.

Tony could not believe what he was hearing. He turned and entered Autopsy before Gibbs and Ducky even knew he was there. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Gibbs and Ducky had stopped talking.

“So, let me get this straight!” Tony said. His speaking made them look up as he walked into Autopsy. “I allowed myself to be man bait. I got drugged and thrown into a nasty, nasty underground prison. I saved a man, a Marine, from certain death, twice. I get him out of that nasty place. Then I stood between him and a homicidal bitch with a gun…ready to shoot him. And you say I’m narcissistic?”

Tony didn’t give either of them a chance to speak.

“But you’re not taking any of that into account, are you?” Tony said, fuming. “This is based on one incident…one isolated question. That one I asked you when we came back to the office.”

Gibbs didn’t speak.

“I get that from the two upstairs. They seem to take a very special joy in finding and exploiting my flaws. But you two…?” Tony just shook his head. He was so angry and hurt that he couldn’t even form words. “It’s very lucky for you, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, that personalities aren’t based on single characteristics. Because we both know how you would look.”

Tony stormed out of the room. He yanked the stairwell door open hard enough that it slammed against the wall and practically ran upstairs. He hurried through the lobby and out of the building.

Gibbs sighed and looked at Ducky. “I screwed up.” Gibbs admitted.

“We screwed up, Jethro.”

Gibbs started to leave.

“…leave Anthony alone for now.” Ducky said. “Give him some space.”

Gibbs looked at the door one more time. He wanted to go find Tony. But he knew that Ducky was right.

“We’ve betrayed him.” Ducky replied. “He’s not going to get over it easily.”

THE END

 

 

PART 5

Chapter 21—Singled Out(?)

This one is AU, for obvious reasons.

Tim had a smug smile on his face as he returned to his work. Tony…with his own team, that was just….

“McGee!” Gibbs said coming around the corner and making Tim jump.

“Yes, Boss.” Tim answered wondering what it was Gibbs wanted him to do.

“DiNozzo’s turned down 2 offers for his own team.” Gibbs replied.

Tim was stunned.

“The first offer was when you were still green, and Kate was still new. Shepard made the second offer. She offered him Rota, Spain. But I had just come back from Mexico. I wasn’t myself yet.” Gibbs stated.

Wow, 2 offers. Tim mouthed.

“Yeah 2 offers, McGee.” Gibbs replied. “And how many offers have you had?”

Gibbs walked out of the bullpen toward the elevators, knowing he had made his point.

THE END

 

Episode 22—Broken Arrow

“Did you not understand the order you were given, Agent David?” Gibbs asked.

Ziva just looked at Gibbs for a moment. She knew he was angry by the way he addressed her.

“Tony asked me to remove his father…. Yes, I heard him say that.” Ziva acknowledged. “I did not see where….”

Gibbs temper flared. “You didn’t see. That is very correct. You didn’t see, Agent David. You don’t see where it is necessary to keep civilians out of harm’s way. And, more importantly, you didn’t see where it was necessary for you to obey a simple order.”

“Mr. DiNozzo was not in immediate danger, Gibbs. I was protecting him.” Ziva retorted.

“You were given an order, Agent David. You ignored it.” Gibbs replied.

“Mr. DiNozzo did not….” Ziva started.

“It does not matter what Senior did or didn’t do, Ziva.” Gibbs replied. “I doesn’t matter how it turned out. You disobeyed an order, an order from a superior. You put a civilian in unnecessary danger. And now you’re arguing with me.”

Ziva opened her mouth to speak.

“No Ziva, maybe if you spend a little time reviewing NCIS policy, you will remember it. And you are on desk policy until you do so, plus a week for the insubordination charges. And I will write this up for your personnel file.” Gibbs stated.

“In Mossad….” Ziva 

“In Mossad you would have gotten a much more severe punishment for disobeying an order.” Gibbs replied. “You continually compare NCIS to Mossad, Ziva. You are so proud of your Mossad. If you enjoyed it so much, why are you here?” 

THE END

 

Episode 23—Admiral’s Daughter

“The director asked DiNozzo to go on a special mission, Tim. He’s bringing someone, in potential danger, home from a foreign country, not getting the director’s suit from the dry cleaners. That is an errand.” Gibbs paused. “If you had wanted the op, Tim, you could have spoken up. But the truth is you just wanted to complain about not being asked.”

THE END

 

IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN  
Part 5

 

Episode 24— ??

I cannot remember the name of the episode. But it is the episode where McGee told Tony that Tony wouldn’t be able to understand what he and Ziva were doing on the computer.

 

Gibbs watched McGee as he gathered his belongings to go home. He watched McGee put on his coat and then got up to leave.

“McGee….”

Tim looked at Gibbs. He went over to Gibbs’ desk.

“Who do you supposed did the computer work when Tony and I were just a two man team?” Gibbs asked.

Tim just looked at Gibbs for a moment. “I guess I never thought about it.”

“You were hired because you are a computer guy, McGee. That’s true.” Gibbs admitted. “That doesn’t mean that the rest of us are completely ignorant of the subject.” He replied, meaning namely, he and Tony.

McGee then turned to leave. 

“Oh, and McGee…Tony admires you for your skills and abilities.” Gibbs paused. “It’s ashamed the admiration is not mutual.”

McGee nodded. Gibbs had given him alot to think about.

 

THE END

 

Episode 25—Last Man Standing

“You didn’t have to disassemble my team to find this mole, Director Vance.” Gibbs stated, irritated with his boss.

“There are suspicions….” Vance started.

“Langer’s not your man.” Gibbs said quickly. “Your computer geek, there, makes McGee look like a ladies’ man. And Lee…” He paused. “…well, if there were any suspicion about her, she shouldn’t have been made a field agent and put on a team. She was with Tony for….”

Vance nodded. “There were rumors then.”

“Well, it’s not Langer. That’s all I can say.” Gibbs replied. “And I do not appreciate this, Vance. This is not a game. We are not chess pieces.”

“I am Director here.”

“Those people were my team, Vance…hand-picked…by me, for my team.” Gibbs replied. “DiNozzo, McGee…” Gibbs emphasized, pointing to his own chest. “…they’re mine. They belong to me.”

“There are employees of NCIS and will, therefore, be placed in the positions that I put them into.” Vance stated.

“You broke up my team, on a hunch of perceived wrong doing. You give me three new people hoping I will spot the mole, and then you get angry when I’m not happy with the situation?” Gibbs surmised.

Vance fumed.

Gibbs glared at Vance a moment before speaking. “Why haven’t you fired me for what I just said? Why am I not up on insubordination charges?” Gibbs asked. He then answered his own question. “Because you need me, that’s why. You need me to do a job you can’t or won’t do. And you broke up the best MCRT on the east coast to do it.” Gibbs shook his head. “…thought you were smarter than that.”

“You’re….” Vance said fuming.

Gibbs shook his head disgusted with the whole thing. “If you had really wanted to fire me for insubordination, you would have done it by now!” He paused, he was still shaking he was so angry. “You want me out of your face…give me my team back!” With that Gibbs turned on his heel and left Vance’s office, slamming the door behind him.

 

THE END

 

END NOTE: FYI—I didn’t mention Ziva when Gibbs listed his team members because she was not hand-picked by Gibbs. She was placed on the team by Director Shepard.

 

 

Episode 26-Agent Afloat

 

“You say that it’s not punishment, Director. But you’ve been punishing him for months.” Gibbs replied. “It’s taking you the longest to get him back. DiNozzo is not to blame for Jenny Shepard’s death. Actually, if Tony and Ziva had been there, we probably would have had three funerals, instead of one. Shepard was vastly outnumbered.”

Vance nodded. “DiNozzo was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders that day.”

“Then you let his friends help him. You let him decide how he needs to deal with this, how he needs to grieve, Director. You don’t send him out into the middle of the ocean with 5,000 strangers thousands of miles away from his friends.”

“He’s coming back, Gibbs.”

“Uh, huh.” Gibbs said, not even looking at him.

“Director Shepard…she had an agenda.”

Gibbs gave Vance a look like ‘tell me something I don’t know.’

“She was terminal, Gibbs.” Vance stated. “I don’t know what she had. She…I overheard a conversation I wasn’t supposed to have.” He paused. “But she was really sick, and….” Vance shook his head.

Gibbs had had no idea. That was not the ‘agenda’ that Gibbs was thinking of. But it explained a lot. “Jenny wouldn’t have told me. And she would have wanted to die just the way she did. But, all that aside, I want my agent back, Director. Tony is a part of my team. A huge part of my team, it’s…things aren’t the same without him.”

 

THE END

 

Episode 27—Shalom  
This is the episode where Gibbs shows up after Ziva calls him to help her out of a jam, instead of asking Tony to help her. This is what, I think, Gibbs should have told Ziva. 

 

“You have a very capable Team Leader, Ziva.” Gibbs replied. “And you haven’t even asked him for help, have you?”

“Tony is not….” Ziva started.

“I put Tony in charge. He is it, Ziva.” Gibbs replied. “I’m not….”

“Tony cannot help me.”

“I will not undermine the man I put in charge, someone whom I know is capable of doing the job, because you are having issues with him.” Gibbs paused. “Unfortunately, it is coming back to me, a little of it, the issues that you two have. However, Agent David, the fact remains that Agent DiNozzo was put in charge. He is still in charge. And you, as a member of his team, need to speak with him.

THE END

 

 

Episode 28—Shalom  
This is what Tony should have told Gibbs, instead of just taking his snarky comments.

 

“I guess you really did mean it when you said ‘You’ll do’ when you left.” Tony stated when he realized why Gibbs was back in town and who had called him. And Tony really had not expected the attitude from his former boss. “You got a phone call and you come running like I can’t do the job, like I was just a place holder until you came back.”

“You didn’t….” Gibbs started.

“Ziva didn’t call me first. She didn’t tell me. She was nice enough to leave me out of the loop.” Tony said sarcastically. “Then I got to listen to my former boss make hateful, snarky comments about me, my leadership abilities, and pretty much everything else he felt like saying.” He said glaring at Gibbs as he spoke. “You didn’t have to come back to D.C., Gibbs, but you did. And you act like it’s my fault you’re here. I didn’t want you here!”

Gibbs just looked at him, surprised.

“You just up and left us, and frankly, I’m still a little pissed about it!” Tony admitted. “Then you come back, like you’re doing everybody a huge favor. I’m the one who’s kept this team together. I’m the one who’s supported the team. I’m the one who’s had to deal with the fallout you created, Gibbs. So any big favors you think you’ve done for anybody are the ones you’ve dreamed up in that messed up head of yours!” Tony paused. “Why don’t you go back to Mexico and drink a few more tequilas, maybe things will be a little clearer to you.” Tony said as he turned and left the room.

 

THE END

 

 

IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN  
Part 6

Episode 26—Murder 2.0 Part 2  
This is a continuation of the a previous episode. Thank you for asking for a continuation. And thank you all for your continuing reviews and alerts. JL

“What do you want, Gibbs?” Tony asked, hearing Gibbs come up behind him.

“How did you…?” Gibbs asked, very surprised.

“I know your footsteps, and I smelled the sawdust.” Tony explained.

“Tony, that was just….” Gibbs started a little disgruntled that he could no longer sneak up on his agent. And he needed to explain himself, his statement.

“I am not narcissistic.” Tony declared.

“Tony, you constantly talk about yourself. You’re always bragging. You….” Gibbs started.

“I talk constantly because my boss is a functional mute who would rather practice his glares and stares than speak.” Tony replied. “And I brag because it annoys the hell out of Kate and Tim. But neither of those should count, because I put my life on the line for people every day. People I don’t know, people who don’t know me. It’s my job, and I’m damned good at it, Gibbs.” He paused. “I would expect my boss, the man who hand-picked me for his team to know that.”

Gibbs shook his head. “I….”

“No Gibbs, I don’t care what you say.” Tony replied. “I’ve…through my whole life…nobody really gave a damn. Senior was…well, you know….”

“Tony, I never….”

“No, you didn’t think! Damned right, you didn’t think!” Tony exclaimed.

Gibbs knew that there was nothing he could say. “I’m sorry.”

“The Gibbs fix-all, you’re gonna try that on me now?” Tony asked. He was still angry and not, at all, ready to let it go. “The mighty Gibbs humbles himself and apologizes?”

Gibbs opened his mouth to speak.

“I expected more from you.” Tony said before he turned and walked away.

THE END

 

 

Episode 27--

It really annoyed me, and it seemed like a slap in the face to Tony how Abby and Ziva treated DiNozzo, Sr. given what they knew about Tony’s childhood.

 

Gibbs pulled Abby aside for just a moment, after Tony left the lab.

“What are you doing to him?” Gibbs asked.

Abby looked at Gibbs, confused. “What am I doing to who?”

“You had a good childhood, Abby, lots of good memories. Tony wasn’t so lucky.” Gibbs explained. “And you just….”

“What am I supposed to do, Gibbs? That was a long time ago. Tony seems to be trying to get along with his dad. And Tony doesn’t act like it bothers him.” Abby replied.

“Who do you think taught Tony to wear his masks, Abby?” Gibbs asked. “The man is a con man. He taught Tony about the poker face, too.”

Abby seemed to be considering what Gibbs was saying.

“I love Tony, Boss. I would never intentionally hurt him.” Abby stated.

“I know you do. But when you cozy up to Senior, it’s like you’re telling Tony he’s wrong about his dad. He’s lying about his childhood. “

“Oh no,” Abby said, shaking her head. “I know how devastated Tony was by his childhood. I just, I thought that I could help. If Senior was with Tony’s friends, and we were nice to him, maybe he would see what type of person Tony was. And then he would want to be nicer to Tony. Maybe he would want to get to know his son a little bit.”

Gibbs shook his head. “It’s gonna to take more than that. It’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than that.”

 

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

 

“What are you doing, Ziva?” Gibbs asked, after observing Ziva flirting with Senior.

“He is handsome and charming.” Ziva said, in regards to DiNozzo, Senior.

“Roses are pretty, Ziva. But every once in a while, you will get pricked by a thorn.”

“I do not….” Ziva started.

“Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. is not all that he appears to be, Ziva. It’s not my place to tell you about Tony’s childhood. But, suffice to say, it was not a good one.” Gibbs replied.

“I do not understand what I am doing that is wrong.” Ziva said.

“You are making it seem as if Tony is wrong about his own father, Ziva.” Gibbs said. “And you have to admit…Tony knows his dad a whole lot better than any of the rest of us do.”

“I did not mean for that to happen, Gibbs.” Ziva admitted. “I do understand what happens when fathers do not meet their children’s expectations.”

Gibbs looked at Ziva for a moment, unsure of what she meant. He decided to file it away for later.

 

THE END

 

END NOTES: I am really enjoying writing these episodes, so if you can think of anymore you would like to see, please PM me and let me know. JL

 

IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN  
Part 7

 

AN: Thanks for your continued suggestions for ‘episodes.’ And thank you all for your reviews and alerts. JL

Episode 32---SWAK

 

“You didn’t have to do it, Kate.” Gibbs replied. “But I am very glad you did.”

“Do what?” Kate asked, grinning.

“Tony knew I wasn’t sick.” Kate replied. “I think he knew I was lying when I told him.”

“That’s why it means so much, to the both of us.” Gibbs replied.

THE END

 

 

Episode 33—Boxed In

 

“I was the Tony’s chart, Ziva.” Gibbs stated. “All those stitches don’t equal a scratch. Tony was shot. Why would you say otherwise?”

“I didn’t want to hear him witch and groan.” 

Gibbs didn’t correct her, although he knew she meant ‘bitch and moan.’ “This is where you step up, Ziva, and take care of your partner. You know how Tony feels about hospitals and meds and all that. That means when he gets injured, his partner doesn’t lie to me. She tells me he’s been shot. She tells me what she knows because she knows her partner won’t speak up and tell me. She speaks up because she knows he has an aversion to hospitals and pain pills. But most importantly, she speaks up because the only thing she has in mind is her partner’s best interests.”

Ziva didn’t know what to say.

“If the situation has been reversed, what do you think Tony would have done?” Gibbs asked. “Think about it.”

THE END

 

 

Episode 34—Hiatus

Gibbs walked into the bullpen. He had two folders in his hand. He put one on Ziva’s desk and the other on Tim’s. He continued on to his desk and took a seat, not saying anything to his team members.

Tim and Ziva looked at one another, then they looked at Gibbs, who was working on catching up on his email. They both shrugged, opened the folders, and began to read.

Gibbs waited until they both had closed their folders before he spoke.

“Is any of it true?” Gibbs asked. 

There was no answer.

“Do I need to repeat the question?” Gibbs inquired. “Say it in Spanish, perhaps?” He was getting irritated and was glad that Tony would be downstairs with Ducky for a little while.

Tim looked down at the folder. It held several reports. Incidents of insubordination that Tony had written down, but had, obviously, not turned in. Ziva had several reports in her folder also.

“I did not put Tony in this position of leadership as a joke.” Gibbs replied. “You know, and you can ask anybody else here, I’m not known for my sense of humor. So why did you consider it a joke?”

Tim started to speak. 

Gibbs stopped him, shaking his head. “Did you consider it a joke, McGee? I read what you told Tony, verbatim, or is he just lying about the whole thing?” Gibbs asked just to see what they would each say. He was trying to control his anger as he spoke.

“He is not qualified to be a good leader.” Ziva said, as if she was poking a bear, daring it to strike.

“Are you saying you would do better, Officer. David.?” Gibbs asked, coldly.

Ziva nodded. “As a matter of fact….”

“Let me tell you what is ‘a matter of fact,’ Officer David.” Gibbs said, ready to explode. “It is a matter of fact that you were placed on my team, you didn’t earn your position, like Tony and Tim did. It is a matter of fact that you are a Mossad Officer…not an NCIS Federal Agent. It is a matter of fact that you do not have the forensic knowledge to be an NCIS Agent. It is a matter of fact that you do not have the work experience, i.e. investigative experience, to be an NCIS Agent. And it is a matter of fact that, therefore, the aforementioned being true, that you could not and would not, under any circumstances, qualify to be Team Leader of this or any other team!” Gibbs hissed. “Those are the facts, Officer. David.”

Tim had been listening, and he sank back in his chair as Gibbs shifted his attention.

“Do we need to do this?” Gibbs asked, as in do we need to rehash your transgressions publicly and make another scene in the bullpen?

Tim just shook his head and turned to his computer screen.

“Very good, Agent McGee.” Gibbs looked at Ziva again. “Oh, just so you know, Director Shepard has seen the reports. She is ready to act on them at either Tony’s or my direction. And I think, Officer David, you would not like the outcome.”

THE END

 

Episode 35—  
This is the episode where Tony and Tim had their computer game night and didn’t invite Ziva.

 

Gibbs looked at Ziva. “You do realize that what you’re feeling right now…that is exactly how Tony felt when you didn’t invite him to your dinner party.”

THE END

 

 

Episode 36—Dog Tags

Gibbs read the team reports. He waited until Tony and Ziva had left before he spoke to Tim. 

“You locked yourself in a car and wouldn’t let DiNozzo in when there was a vicious dog after the both of you?”

McGee nodded.

“Do I have to explain why…?”

McGee shook his head.

“This may seem like a minor offense, Tim. But if Tony had not been able to get himself to safety….”

“I understand.” Tim replied.

“Good, but that still means a three day suspension, without pay.” Gibbs replied.

 

THE END

 

 

Episode 37—Senior and Gibbs—Various episodes

“I don’t really care if you believe me or not, Mr. DiNozzo. But I am not trying to be Tony’s dad. He already has a dad. You!” Gibbs replied.

“HA!” Senior huffed. “You try to undermine my relationship with my son every chance you get.”

Gibbs glared at Senior. “Please tell me how my supporting your son, being his friend, all that. Please tell me how I am undermining you.”

“He leans on you. He comes to you for help. He….” Senior started.

“He trusts me. He knows he can depend on me, Mr. DiNozzo.” Gibbs replied. “I’ve earned the privilege.”

Senior looked at Gibbs. “Are you telling me that I have to.... I’m his father!”

“Does your son trust you, Mr. DiNozzo?” Gibbs asked, already knowing the answer. “I would guess that that mistrust started long before your son met me.” He paused. “You can blame me all want. But we both know the truth. We both know that you don’t see those things that you don’t want to see. It may blind you to the facts, but it doesn’t make them any less true. If you were worthy of your son’s trust, your son would trust you.”

THE END

 

 

 

IN STROLLS THE BOSSMAN  
Part 8

AN: Thanks for your continued suggestions for ‘episodes.’ And thank you all for your reviews and alerts. Also, I can’t find the review with the corrections for Part 7. I made all of them, except one. And I believe that it one was actually correct to begin with. Thank you, to that person, for helping me, JL.

 

Episode 38—Bait  
This one is a little different. When I first saw this episode, I couldn’t believe that Ziva’ first course of action would be to shoot the kid.

 

Tony looked at Ziva, shocked and unbelieving. “Ziva, we in the United States of America, are not in the practice of shooting children. We negotiate in these situations first, violence is a last resort. Yes, we are given guns. And, yes, we are very proficient with them. However, we do not, as I said earlier, SHOOT children. This is not a war-torn country where 10-year-olds walk around carrying sub-machine guns. This is the United States where we have a terrified kid who just wants his mother. You don’t shoot the symptom! You go to the source and take care of the problem!”

THE END

 

 

Episode 39—Family

Gibbs leaned back against his desk his fingers laced in front of him. “I didn’t think that it was a difficult question, McGee.”

McGee still didn’t respond.

“Why do you think Director Sheperd should have asked you to take that undercover op over Tony?”

“I just….” McGee faltered and he stumbled. He knew right now, of course, he didn’t seem to be the agent for the job, he was too busy babbling.

“…because you’re smarter? You graduated from M.I.T.? Your I.Q is higher?” The bossman questioned. “Those would be the wrong answers, Tim. I would dare you to go to Quantico and find me a course on the art of going undercover. You won’t find it. Yeah, they teach you what you need to go undercover…documentation, the proper paper trail, etc. They also teach how to keep up appearances, those type things. But they cannot teach you how to finesse the role. They can’t teach you how to stay under for long periods of time. They can’t teach you how to slip in and out of character, as need be. And most importantly, they can’t teach you how keep your cool when everything falls apart around you. That is what the person brings to the role.

The junior agent opened his mouth to speak.

“An agent may be put into a position to play others roles at any time, true. It’s the nature of the job, and you’re good at those, Tim. But those are ones you’re trained to do. You’re trained how to talk to someone if you find yourself in a situation where he is about to shoot himself, or you.” Gibbs stated. “But that is really nothing more than a series of steps designed to defuse the situation.” Gibbs sighed. “Undercover work is not like that. It’s not at all like that. There are too many variables, too much can go wrong at any time. It’s a great deal of pressure.”

“I could do it, Boss.” Tim replied. “Tony’s not a better….”

Gibbs shook his head. “It’s not a contest, McGee. Undercover work plays to Tony’s skillset for this job. It does not, however, play to yours. End of story.”

THE END

 

 

Episode 40—Bounce  
Thanks to all of you who told me the name. A special thanks to ‘combatcrazy’ for the episode details. I had to change this a little, but, surprisingly, not that much.

Also, I really, really appreciate all your replies, and alerts. I have not responded because I have been much too busy writing stories. Thank you.

 

“This,” Gibbs said, holding up the name tag with the word ‘Trainee’ on it where Abby could see it. “ is unacceptable.”

Abby nodded. “I know, Bossman. He was just….”

Gibbs shook his head. “Not him! You!”

Abby was a bit taken back by that and pouted a little.

“Do you remember, back when you didn’t want Tony to be me?” Gibbs asked.

Abby nodded. It was back during the time that Gibbs had gone to Mexico.

“Those were….trying circumstances.” Gibbs blue eyes seemed to glare though her, and she averted her eyes. “He didn’t have….”

Abby looked at him again. “He was running around here acting like you!”

“He was trying to make the transition a little less painful for everybody.” Gibbs explained.

“He was running around, slapping heads, drinking coffee….” Abby insisted.

“And because you didn’t like the way he did things….”

“We didn’t want another Gibbs.” Abby pouted.

“Exactly Abby, you didn’t!” Gibbs said, sternly. “Yet here, you penalized him for not being like me. If you don’t like how he does things than that means you have a problem with me, not him. He is only doing what I’ve trained him to do.” Gibbs put the name tag up to his lapel. “Are you saying I should be wearing this?”

Abby opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it quickly. She had to think this over for a minute. 

“This is an insult!” Gibbs said, raising his hand, forcing Abby to look at the name tag again. “Anthony DiNozzo is a highly trained federal agent, more than capable of handling the job. Oh, and Abby, just so you know, Tony was late because he stopped by the gym to get that brace he gave you for the Sister, your nun friend.” Gibbs waited for Abby to absorb what he said before he gave her the name tag. “Here, wear this for the rest of the day, see how it makes you feel.”

 

THE END

 

 

Part 9

Episode 41--Bounce

 

“Tony was allowed to step up to make this thing right. As right as he can make it, anyway.” Gibbs told his two junior agents. “I shouldn’t have to remind you two that we succeed, and we fail as a team. So, if Tony missed up, if he missed evidence, if he came to the wrong conclusions. Guess what? So did you!” Gibbs paused. “That means,” he hissed. “,you step up and take your part of the responsibility for this. Because, trust me, you have a part in it, and, this is probably the more important part, you keep your snide, disrespectful, hateful comments to yourself.”

Tim swallowed and looked at Ziva. They both knew, then, that they had been caught. 

“If I ever hear what I just heard come out of your mouth again,” Gibbs was practically growling now. “you don’t want to see what I’ll do!”

THE END

 

Episode 42--

 

AN: Thanks to Guest (ncisfan) who told me where it was (which op. and line) that Kate thought she didn’t’ have to listen to Tony.

 

“I remember telling you, Kate, that Tony doesn’t tell you what to do. I do.” Gibbs told her as they walked away from the others. “But he is still my second in command. And his word goes when I’m not around.”

“But he’s….” Kate started.

“Tony is annoying, childish, and he talks way too much. But there’s nobody else I would rather have my six.“ Gibbs replied. “He’s my second, Kate. He earned the job, and he’s earned your respect.”

The End

 

Episode 43

 

“Kate, Tony is your superior. He is my Senior Field Agent. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact he started here before you did. He knows the job, and he’s good at it.”

Kate shook her head. What did Gibbs see that she didn’t? She thought.

Gibbs read her mind and answered her question. “I saw…I see a capable agent. I see somebody like I would like to be.”

Kate stared at her boss, shocked. She had never expected him to say that.

“What does that even…?” Kate started to ask as Gibbs’ phone rang.

“Grab your gear, dead Seaman in Norfolk.” Gibbs said as he hung up the phone.

The End

 

 

Episode 44

 

AN: I know some of you might not like this. But, sometimes, Tony just needs it.

 

Tony grimaced from the sting. He had done it again, spoken before he thought. But, Gibbs’ hand made the correction…for the millionth time.

The End

 

Part 10

 

AN: I have to answer some of the reviews I have been getting a little more publicly. I don’t like to do that. So if you ask me a question, and honestly do want an answer, please allow me a way to provide feedback.

Guest (1)March 16, 2015 review: What I see in regards to Tony are honest injustices. I know Tony can be a jerk sometimes. I sit and watch the show and say ‘Tony, what the bleep are you doing?’ I get where you’re coming from. But nothing that Tony does has ever put his co-workers in mortal danger. The CD with the dog barking was a little stupid on Tony’s part. But Tim was never in danger of being hurt again by the dog. I don’t remember the details of the episode with the jet pack, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one. But I think it was Tony trying to get the controls from Tim. Tim was on the ground also then and was in no danger. And in ‘The Zone’ Tim knew where they were going and what the purpose of the mission was, what Tim didn’t know was the details. He didn’t know how, exactly, the mission was going to be carried out. And that was not Tony’s fault. Tony didn’t know exactly either, not until they got there and could observe the situation for themselves. I think your last two statements of your review are misguided and hurtful. I am a Tony fan. I make no apologies for that. I have as much right to like him as you have to not like him. But, as all of us are, Tony is human. He, like the rest of us, makes mistakes. He has done stupid things on the show. And I’ve yelled at the TV when he’s done them. But that doesn’t make me ignorant or a coward. That makes me human, a forgiving human being who knows no one is perfect, even TV characters make mistakes. That makes me an understanding, forgiving person. God bless you if you’re perfect. I know I’m not, so I can’t hold it against others when they’re not. That is what I think, to answer your question.

Guest (2-defenders): Thank you for your comments in defense of my story and our favorite character. I think some people like to read and comment on stories they know they will not like because they have nothing better to do with their lives.

 

 

Episode 45-Faking It

AN: Thanks poppaeasabina. I hope this is more in line of the confrontation you would have liked to have seen.

 

“I need to talk to you, Franks.” Gibbs said, using Mike’s last name so that Mike would know how pissed off he was.

“What’s with the…?” Mike started, before Gibbs got up in his face.

“You injured one of my agents.” Gibbs said, seething.

Mike took a step back. He had never seen Jethro this upset.

“I needed….” 

“I don’t give a damn what you needed, Mike.” Jethro stepped close again. “DiNozzo didn’t deserve to be hurt. He was doing his job.”

“DiNozzo….” Mike started. He didn’t like the way this conversation was going.

“People want you dead.” Jethro hissed. “What about that do I need to explain to you?”

“Tony’s just a kid.” 

“He’s one of the best agents we have at NCIS, Mike. I wouldn’t have given him this detail if he hadn’t been.” Gibbs started to turn and walk away, his anger lessening, just slightly. “Watch yourself, Franks.”

“I’m not worried about DiNozzo.” Mike said, confidently.

“I’m not talking about DiNozzo.” Gibbs said as he turned and walked away.

THE END

 

Episode 46-Cloak--It turns out I was wrong on my premise for this episode. Combatcrazy infomed me that the reason Abby put that sticker on Tony was because he was 4 minutes late getting to the lab to hear her results.

 

“What is this?” Gibbs asked, holding up the sticker that Abby had put on Tony’s lapel that said ‘Trainee.’

“Tony was…he made a mistake.” Abby said stumbling over her words. She could see Gibbs disappointment and anger and she didn’t like it.

“You’ve never come to the wrong conclusion? You’ve NEVER done anything like that?”

“Well, yes…but….”

“But it’s not okay for him?”

“He sent somebody to jail…for years.” Abby said. She was not used to Gibbs being angry with her. It made her uncomfortable.

"DiNozzo made a mistake. That just means he made an error." Gibbs held up the sticker to her . "That doesn't make him a probie. That doesn't mean he needs to be retrained. That means he deserves an opportunity to make up for his mistakes." He paused and studied her for a moment. "Your attitude bothers me, Abby. Given the way Tony has always treated you. I just…" The team leader put the sticker on Abby's lab coat. "I expected better from you." Gibbs then left the lab.

The End

 

 

Episode 47—Stop the Bleeding

AN: If anyone knows which episode Tony asked the question below and Gibbs gave the answer below please PM me and I’ll fix it. FYI: I just thought that Gibbs and Tony both left a lot unsaid there that really needed to be discussed. So, it will be ‘discussed’ here.

Tony went over to Gibbs desk and asked. “Do we need to talk?”

Gibbs looked up at Tony. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Vance…he ordered me. I had to take care of…the situation. And, I…I couldn’t stay at the hospital. I wanted to, but….”

Gibbs nodded. “I know, Tony. I asked to see you, and….”

“I wanted to be there.”

Gibbs nodded again. “I know you did. I just…I didn’t know if you had been shot too. I didn’t know where you were.” 

Tony didn’t know what to say for a moment. He hadn’t even considered that Gibbs could have thought that.

“I should have had your six.” Tony lamented. “I should have known this could happen. I should have anticipated it. I had clues; I just….”

Gibbs shook his head. “We both never suspected him. I considered him a friend, Tony. “Nobody was more surprised than me.”

“We’re good?” Tony asked.

“We are always good, DiNozzo.” Gibbs replied. “Now, get back to work!”

Tony turned and started back to his desk, a smile on his face.

 

THE END

 

 

Part 11

 

Episode—48 Bounce

AN: Thank you ParkerReid15 for the reminder about Tim in Bounce. He did do all the computer work, so why was Tony blamed for that error. True, Tony was in charge at that time. But he needs to be able to assume his team members can do their jobs and do them correctly. He can’t double-check everybody.

 

“Tim, you have a part in this, why is Tony taking all the grief for it?” Gibbs asked. He saw the reports the team had filed and he knew that Tim had done the computer work on the case. If Tim had made a mistake in the following of the money or interpreting the results he had gotten from the searches, then he needed to shoulder part of the responsibility.

“Gibbs, he….” McGee didn’t have a sufficient answer. “Tony was in charge.” Was all he could offer.

“McGee, you expect Tony to check up on you and make sure you do your job correctly? That’s not his job.” Gibbs paused. “It’s not mine either. Is that what you want us to do, make sure you do your job and do it correctly?”

Of course, Tim didn’t want that. He was a very competent agent. He knew how to do his job, and he did it well. At least he thought so.

“I can’t do that McGee and neither can Tony. We can’t do the things you do with computers. That’s why I hired you to this team. You had skills we needed to do the job better.” Gibbs paused again. “But, if you like, I could check down in Cyberville and get another agent to do the job…if you can’t.”

“No Gibbs, that’s not….”

“Then you man up and take responsibility for your part in all this. We work as a team, McGee, in case you forgot. And if one fails, we all fail, for that very reason.” Gibbs stared at him for a moment. “You got it?”

Tim nodded.

“Good because I don’t expect to have this conversation with you ever again.”

 

THE END

 

Episode 49--Bury Your Dead

 

“You used my agent, Jenny.” Gibbs stated. “That’s the issue.”

“It’s Director Shepard.” Jenny replied. “And he’s MY agent.”

“Semantics.” Gibbs said.

“You used him for your own purposes and pulled the cloak of an NCIS op over it.” Gibbs practically hissed at her. “We watched his car blow up on the monitor! You put him in danger, and you left him without back up!”

“He had backup.”

“What…you?” Gibbs chuckled. “When…between your meetings and the other bureaucratic bullshit you have to do.”

“I provided adequate back up.” Jenny replied.

“Do you know what ‘adequate means in my word, Director? It means you do just enough to cover your own ass. That is what adequate means.” Gibbs said, fuming.

“You are very close to the edge, Agent Gibbs.” The director warned.

“Fine, fire me!” Gibbs said. “But don’t you dare call these people your agents when you treat them like you just treated DiNozzo.” The team leader paused to calm himself. “You abused your power, Jenny. You abused the agency! You took advantage of people who trusted you!”

“How dare you…!”

“Get over yourself, Jenny!” He stood and got within inches of her. “You ever treat any of my people like that again, and I will make that second B in my name seem like a day at the beach.” He paused again, still fuming. “Do you understand me?”

Gibbs then turned on his heel and walked out the door, slamming it behind him before she could reply.

 

THE END

 

Episode 50—Cloak

Thanks to The Nagging Cube for reminding me of this episode.

 

Tony was angry and all his anger was directed at Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He felt he had been wronged. He had not been told about the fake war games. Tony really hated Gibbs reaction to his anger. The team leader had told Tony, in effect; that he had not needed to know what was going on. He had not needed to be brought into the loop.

Tony felt, that as Gibbs, second on command, he should have automatically been read in. He was not. And he and Ziva had been injured on a mission that was truly not even a mission. It was an exercise, an experiment that they had failed to complete. Everybody had been in on it, it seemed, up to the Secretary of the Navy, himself. Nobody had even offered up and explanation for the rough treatment they both had received.

“You were told not to engage, DiNozzo.” Gibbs replied. He was surprisingly calm, which only served to piss off the Senior Field Agent even more.

“I was not the first to engage anyone, Ziva was. But that is not even the point.” Tony replied. “We were deceived, and I was not read in. That is the problem.”

Gibbs started to speak.

Tony shook his head. “Don’t tell me I didn’t need to know! Those guards could have seriously injured us both. They knocked me out. That is how war games are played around here, Gibbs? How many other people did you tell beside me? I mean, does Paul, the janitor, know? How about the cute little blonde in the mail room? Did she know, too?”

Tony started to the door just as Gibbs began to speak.

“Tony….”

Tony turned around and glared at Gibbs. “You were wrong! You were all so damned wrong. But you won’t take responsibility. This is NOT how you treat people, Gibbs! Not people who have been nothing but loyal to you and to this agency!”

Tony then stormed out of the room. He swung the door to the stairway so hard it resounded off the tile on the wall and was heard throughout the floors.

 

THE END

 

More Episodes to Follow!!

 

 

Part 12

 

Episode 51—Bounce

“I saw the smirk, David.” Gibbs stated. “And I didn’t like it. I should have told you then, but…”

Ziva didn’t like it when Gibbs used her last name like that. But it told her how every angry he was with her.

“I…Tony actually messed up. It is a rare thing.” Ziva replied.

“Tony did not mess up, Ziva, not by himself.” Gibbs explained. “He didn’t work the case alone.”

“But, Tony….”

Gibbs didn’t let the former Mossad agent finish. “You assisted with the case. You helped find clues, come to a conclusion, Tim did the computer work.” He paused. “You worked as a team, so you take responsibility as a part of that team.”

“Tony….”

“You are not getting the concept of what a team is, apparently. “ Gibbs said, growing frustrated with her. “Yes, Tony was team leader. He, therefore, would shoulder more of the responsibility. But he does not shoulder it all, Ziva. He had two other agents working with them.” Gibbs paused and blew out a frustrated breath. “And if you had seen something that was wrong, then you should have brought it to his attention.”

“It is not my job to check behind him to make sure that he is doing his job correctly.” Ziva replied.

“No, but it is your job to get your facts straight and to present the information as accurately as possible.” Gibbs reminded her. “It’s not the Team Leader’s job to check behind YOU either. He should be able to count on you to do your job, and to do it correctly.”

Ziva opened her mouth again to speak.

Gibbs shook his head. “This is not up for debate, Officer David. If you have a problem following orders or being a part of this team, then I can arrange to have an agent take your place.”

“Gibbs…!” Ziva was shocked.

“You are a member of a team, David.” Gibbs said. “If you don’t know what that means you had better find out…and quick!” He then turned and left, not giving her an opportunity to reply.

 

The End

 

 

Episode 52—Twilight

 

It happened so fast. He looked down at his now-dead partner. Her blood was on his face. He had no idea where the warm spray had come from until he saw her lying on the ground, a pool of life’s blood spreading under her head.

It was not until he saw the horror on his boss’ face and the recognition in his eyes that he realized that his partner, his friend, was no longer alive. He saw the team leader’s look of horror turn into thinly veiled wraith and vengeance. The older agent then quickly returned to his agent mode. He surveyed the scene, and he set about trying to solve the murder of his agent.

The younger man just stared at his partner, willing time to stop. He needed a moment, just a moment; to…absorb what had just happened. He needed for the world to stop so that he could get off. He needed to deal with this in his own way. True, he was the master at wearing the mask. But right now he wanted to throw the mask away and grieve his partner.

He looked to the older man, his boss, for answers, for a sort of recognition of the horror in front of them, and he had seen it, for a second. But, he needed his boss to stay there with him; to dwell in the moment, just a little while longer.

The look in his boss’ eyes also showed a look of resignation and acceptance. And it was true, in this job, in this line of work, you lost people. You had to prepare yourself for that. But, it was never like this. It was never so cold and calculated.

He had ducked when he heard the shot. It had been automatic. But, of course, it was too late. The kill had been made. The sniper had hit a target, not his intended, but a target, all the same. The man had then packed up and abandoned his post. But not before the sniper’s features were burned into his and his boss’ brains. They had a face, now all they needed was a name.

The End

 

 

Episode 53—Missing

 

AN: I have always thought that Tony and Kate had a very sweet, annoying, pestering, loving relationship. I thought something like this should have occurred at some point.

 

Kate was so glad to see Tony. She could even say how much. She loved Tony, not in the boyfriend/girlfriend type way. But she loved him just the same. She had brothers, several. But she added Tony to the list. She could always use another brother, especially one who always looked after her as well as he did. She just hoped she had always returned the favor when they were out in the field. 

Kate touched Tony’s arm to get his attention. “Are you okay, Tony?”

Tony looked down at her hand on his arm. He then grinned at her. “Aww, you do like me.”

Kate took her hand away. “Why do you always have to spoil the moment?”

Tony just looked at her. “We were having a moment? I didn’t know. We’ll have a do-over.”

“A do-over…how old are you?” Kate asked.

Instead of answering, Tony pulled her into a hug and gently kissed the top of her head. “I’m okay, thanks for asking.” He whispered in her ear.

Kate hugged him tightly, despite his dirty clothes. She then let go and stepped back. “You don’t get to scare me like that again, Big Brother.”

“I love you, too, Little Sis.” He said before the doors opened and they both walked out onto the fourth floor.

 

The End

FYI: I know this is OOC for both characters. I also know that Gibbs was in the elevator when they rode up. But for my purposes Gibbs is off somewhere doing something. I don’t know where or what since he is not essential to this story.

 

 

Part 13  
Episode 54—Tony and Gibbs relationship—various episodes

 

AN: I really wish that Gibbs and Tony’s relationship was as it had been for the first 3 years of the series. I loved the father/son dynamic. JL

“…cowboys steaks tonight?” Tony asked as he cleared his desk to get ready for the morning.

“…hadn’t planned on it.” Gibbs replied as he checked his phone and then powered down his computers.

Tony stared at him for a moment.

“Your dad….” Gibbs started.

Tony shook his head. “Dad lives in my building, Gibbs.” He paused. “I can see him anytime.”

Gibbs didn’t speak. He just continued to get ready to leave.

“Dad is back in my life, Gibbs.” Tony admitted. “I don’t need a father figure anymore. But I do need our friendship. I do still look at you that way, sometimes. You were there when I needed your help. I’m grateful. I always will be.”

“You get the beer. I’ll stop and pick up the steaks.” Gibbs said as he headed towards the elevator.

Tony nodded and smiled, even though Gibbs didn’t see it.

 

THE END

 

Episode 55—Season 13 Finale

“She was not who everybody thought she was, Gibbs. From the beginning, she didn’t include me in that dinner party thing. She accused me of being in love with her and killing Rivkin. She put my life in danger by turning down the volume on the radio. She called me useless and she held a loaded gun on me!” Tony said pacing, trying to control his anger. “And those are the major things. But, there are a hell of a lot of minor ones.”

Gibbs glared at Tony, as if daring him to continue.

“You little girl was a liar. She was a fraud. She lied to you from the beginning. How could you forget about that? How could you forget that she didn’t kill Ari to save your life? She killed Ari because Daddy David ordered her to.” Tony paused. “What kind of father orders his son killed? What kind of father orders his daughter to kill her own brother? And what kind of daughter carries out those orders?”

Gibbs did not like what he was hearing. He didn’t like to hear that he had been duped. He didn’t like to appear weak. He hated the Ziva had fooled him for so long. He had not found out until Vance had let it slip. And he had no idea that Tony had even known it.

“You call that type of person your surrogate daughter?” Tony shot back at him. “You’re doing Kelly a great disservice!”

Gibbs was furious. He advanced in Tony. And Tony moved out of the way just as Gibbs threw his punch. His fist cracked the sheet rock wall behind where Tony had stood.

“I’m not the one you’re pissed at, Gibbs. It’s not me. I have been taking it for years. I’ve taken your abuse to keep you from going after Tim and Ziva, and now Ellie. But that’s not my job. My job is not to be the resident punching bag. My job is to be an investigative agent for NCIS. And these days you just load all your crap off on me because you think I won’t do or say anything about it! Well, I’m tired of being treated like crap by you, too.” Tony challenged him. “So kick me off your team! Fire Me! But, I can guarantee you, that by this time tomorrow, one of the other alphabet agencies will have me on their payroll!”

Gibbs continued to glare at Tony. But he didn’t try to swing at the man again. The team leader just turned and walked away, nursing his injured hand.

THE END

 

 

Part 14  
Episode 56—Season 13 Finale

“Are you ready for this? Gibbs asked. “Can you…?”

Tony just looked at Gibbs. He couldn’t believe his years. It had been so long since the man had elected to really have a conversation with him. But right now, he had too much to sort through. He knew that Gibbs priority was always the case. So, let him go solve the case they were working on. He had other, more important, things to do. 

“I’m taking my daughter home, Gibbs.” Tony said, dismissing the question, just a little. The man had been ignoring him for months, why did Gibbs care what he did now? “I know you have a case to work.” He said and headed out the door with his little girl.

Gibbs stared after his senior agent, wondering where the attitude was coming from. The team leader expected Tony to come over that evening, like he used to when he was faced with a crisis so that they could drink bourbon and talk it out. But Tony didn’t show up, and Gibbs could not hide his disappointment. He wanted to help Tony with this. And he was a little mystified as to why Tony had not turned to him for help. He knew that Senior was in the picture. But knowing Senior’s track record with Junior….. Gibbs just shook his head. He would find a chance to talk to Tony to see where his head was.

Tony knew that Gibbs wanted to talk to him about his attitude. But, at the moment he could care less what Leroy Jethro Gibbs thought. He had other priorities. Besides, Tony felt that Gibbs didn’t trust him anymore, and it went back before Ziva had left. He may have regretted letting Ziva stay in Israel. Maybe the Team Leader wished he had fired his SFA so that Ziva would have stayed. Tony had no idea where the man’s head was. Tony used to know his boss; he could read his moods and everything. But these days, these past few years, in fact, it felt like Gibbs had put up a wall. He and Gibbs rarely partnered up anymore. The team lead chose Ellie or Tim. Leaving Tony in the office to handle computer work, paperwork, or running down the phone leads. Tony was not above doing all that. It was a part of the job, after all. But he didn’t want to be the one always left in the office. He was a field agent. 

“I expected to see you last night.” Gibbs said. Tony had shown up early the next morning, giving him and Gibbs a little time to talk.

Tony ignored his boss for just a moment. He was not there to work. He was there to apply for a leave of absence. He had accrued the time. He just needed to fill out and file the paper work.

“Why?” Tony asked. Gibbs had not been particularly interested in his life, lately. As far as he was concerned, the addition of Tali didn’t change anything.

‘Why?’ Gibbs couldn’t believe Tony would ask that question. He just looked at his senior field agent.

“I’m taking some time off, Gibbs, to spend with my daughter.” Tony told him. “I have to go see Vance. He said, ignoring the hook that Gibbs had thrown at him.

“You always come and we talk when you hit…obstacles in your life.”

“The last time I was there, you acted like you wished I hadn’t come. That you were too busy to spend any time with me.” Tony stated. “You always seem to have other, better things to do.” He paused. “I’m not going to interfere with your social life, Gibbs.”

“I don’t have a social life.” Gibbs said, a little confused by Tony’s statement.

“That’s not the impression I got.” Tony replied.

“Well, it’s true. Tobias has been coming over more lately. But that’s it.” Gibbs admitted. He knew that Tony knew that he and Gibbs were not the mortal enemies that they pretended to be when they saw each other on the job. He didn’t even bother to pretend anymore.

“You’re attitude towards me has been a little chilly.” Tony explained. “And I don’t know why.”

Gibbs shook his head. He had not noticed any change in his behavior. He had been upset with Tony, that he had gotten, killed that guy that had shot him in Shanghai. He was over that. He thought. He had had therapy and everything. But maybe…maybe there was still some lingering….

“See,” Tony said. He could tell Gibbs was thinking about something. “…there’s something. I just don’t know what….”

“The whole Shanghai thing, you were…you were acting under direct orders from Vance. I just need to…get over it.” Gibbs said, making a rare admission.

“Yes, you do.” Tony agreed. “I couldn’t disobey a direct order, and from the director, no less. I did what I had to do. And I got him before he could go after anyone else.”

“It’s just….”

Tony nodded. “I know you wanted to get him. But we couldn’t wait, Gibbs. How many people would have gotten hurt if we had ‘let him’ keep going? How many people would have died? We would be held responsible for leaving a threat running loose. How would that have made us all look, just so YOU could bring him in? Come on Gibbs! How many months would we have had to wait for you go get back to work to even do that?”

Gibbs shook his head. “I know it’s not rational, it’s not practical. But….”

“You can’t blame me or get upset with me because I follow orders and do my job.” Tony made an attempt to start his paperwork again. He looked at his watch. “I told Dad I would be back in an hour, Gibbs. I need to kind of finish this up.” He said, referring to the LOA paperwork.

Gibbs nodded and went back to his desk and took his seat.

THE END

AN: This is kind of the conversation that I had wished that Tony and Gibbs had had. I dislike the ‘distance’ that has occurred in a relationship that used to be so close. I am not sure how things are going to be on the show. I just am a little scared, nervous about the whole thing. As another FF author said, Tony will just have to live on in our fanfiction minds.

 

 

Episode 57—Various spoilers that I have made completely AU to suit my own purposes.

AN: I have so much I can do with the coldness that existed/exists in Tony and Gibbs’ relationship, or lack thereof. Another ‘reason’ completely AU.

“You act like you don’t want me here.” Tony observed as he sat and watched Gibbs sand his boat.

Gibbs didn’t answer for just a moment. He just took a long swallow if his bourbon and then went back to sanding.

“If you have a problem with me, Gibbs, you could, at least, tell me what it is.” Tony said, getting frustrated with Gibbs’ lack of response.

Again, Gibbs continued to sand and drink, drink and sand.

“You’ve always been able to talk to me, Gibbs. That’s what we do here. I sit on the steps and drink. You sand your boat and drink.” He paused. “You’ve got your part down, but….”

Gibbs just looked at the younger agent. He took another swig of his bourbon and put the glass back down on the work bench with a little more force than intended.

“Ah, so you are pissed off.” Tony said, interpreting Gibbs’ action. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Gibbs had to give it to the young man. He was nothing, if not persistent.

“Ziva stayed in Israel.” Gibbs said, finally speaking.

Tony didn’t speak this time. He had not been privy to the conversation that Ziva and Gibbs had had just before they had returned to the States.

“She…implied I had to choose between her and you.” Gibbs stated, then fell silent again.

Tony swallowed, the information surprised him. Then he made a realization. And he had to ask. “Do you think you made a mistake…choosing me?” He was not sure that he wanted to hear the answer.

Gibbs looked at Tony, as if seeing him for the first time. He shook his head. “I just…I don’t like to be…tested like that.” Gibbs admitted. “I don’t like being put in situations where I have to prove my loyalty, to anybody. She put me in a horrible situation.” Gibbs replied. He took his bourbon and sat down on the stairs beside Tony. “But what really, truly pisses me off is the fact that…for just half a second. I considered it.” The elder man looked at Tony. “I actually considered it.” The team lead shook his head than took another swig.

Tony actually was speechless for a second. Then he found his voice. “She…Ziva meant a lot to you. I know how close you two are...it’s….”

Gibbs shook his head, stopping his senior field agent. “I didn’t…I didn’t know the whole story, Tony. And you don’t either. I just…she lied. Ziva lied. I’m not sure how much Jenny…if she even knew.”

Tony was shocked. But he kept silent.

The Team Lead shook his head again. “Director Vance…enlightened me on some things after we came back from Israel.” Gibbs paused and took another swig. “It turns out…” Gibbs said, looking at his feet. He was too ashamed to look Tony in the eye. “It seems that Eli David sent Ziva to the States to take out a fellow Israeli, namely, his own son, Ziva’s step-brother, Ari Haswari.”

Gibbs paused, imagining the look on his SFA’s face.

“She led me to believe she had killed Ari to save my life, when she was just following orders.” Gibbs looked at Tony. “She gained my trust and fulfilled her mission. And I was just….” Gibbs stared into the depths of his bourbon, as if he would find that answer in there somewhere.

“I don’t know what to say, Boss.” Tony admitted. He was trying to wrap his mind around this mind-blowing revelation.

“What can you say, except I’m losing my touch?” Gibbs said. “I mean, to allow someone to fool me like that. How could I tell you how stupid I was? How could I admit that I had let her in, that close, and…? I was ashamed. I am ashamed. I’m sorry it looked like anger. I just….”

Tony sighed. He chose his words carefully. “You’re not wrong for wanting to get close to people, Gibbs.”

Gibbs huffed out a breath, but didn’t speak.

“Something about her reminded you of Kelly. That’s not a bad thing. Hang on to that memory. Just let the rest go.”

“I want her off my team.” Gibbs replied. “Officially, I just…. If she comes back here….”

“I’ll do the paperwork tomorrow.” Tony assured him.

Gibbs nodded. He finally smiled, for the first time since they had come back from Israel. He went over to his work bench, sat down his bourbon and then picked up a piece of sandpaper.

 

THE END

END NOTES: I realize that Gibbs didn’t know about Ziva’s mission when they returned from Israel. But it suited my purposes for this ‘episode.’ Hope you enjoyed. JL

 

 

Part 15

 

Episode 58—Twilight

AN: Thanks to Kagome Avalon for this suggestion. I can’t believe I forgot about this incident. Thanks again.

 

“Kate!” Gibbs called out as he came off the elevator. He had been able to see part of what Kate had done. When Tony popped up off the floor seconds later, it was confirmed.

Kate tried to throw the bottle into the trash, but it missed and landed on the floor outside her trashcan.

“You are supposed to be lying down.” Gibbs said to Tony as the Team Leader walked past the SFA to his desk.

Tony opened his mouth to speak as he tried to dry the water up.

“Kate, Tony is supposed to be resting.” The TL said, glaring at her. “I want all my people well, Kate. I need everybody healthy.”

“I’m…” Tony started, shaking his head.

“Go see Abby, DiNozzo.” Gibbs ordered.

Tony hesitated, but then left the bullpen after Gibbs looked at him again.

“Now You!” Gibbs started after Tony started walking away. “Tony came back to work too early. We all know that. He’s not 100%, which was why he was resting….”

Kate started to speak.

“No, don’t start, Kate.” Gibbs said. “Tony annoys you. He has always annoyed you. His lungs can’t take….”

“That wasn’t much water. It wasn’t even half a bottle.” Kate replied.

“It wouldn’t take much, Kate. He gets anything in his lungs right now, it could turn into pneumonia.”

Kate shook her head.

“Tony has to be careful, very careful, how he eats, how he drinks fluids. He can’t….

“Gibbs!” Kate replied, surly things weren’t so dire, Gibbs was just trying to make a point.

“Mess with him again and I find out, it’s one week desk duty.” Gibbs stated. “Mess with him again and he gets sick. You’re on unpaid leave…for as long as I say.” He emphasized the word I. He then walked off before Kate could reply.

The End

 

 

Episode 59—Stop the Bleeding and Personal Day, Season 12

Their conversation played over and over in his head.

Tony stood in front of Gibbs, who was sitting at his desk.

“Do…we need to talk about this?” Tony asked.

Gibbs looked back. His poker face intact. “What would you like to talk about?”

Like he didn’t know what Tony wanted to talk about. He damn well knew. How could he act like he didn’t? It infuriated Tony for Gibbs to act as though he didn’t have issues.

Gibbs had been treating Tony differently since he had been shot. Tony knew it was because Gibbs had been blaming Tony for him getting shot. Tony knew he was to blame. If he had just been there. But, he wasn’t. The SFA hadn’t had Gibbs six and Gibbs had paid the price. THAT was what they need to talk about. Tony could not understand why Gibbs refused to acknowledge his mistake. Tony wanted to get it all out in the open. He wanted…no, he needed to talk about it so he could ask Gibbs to forgive him. He needed to find some way to make it up to the man.

~~~~~~~~

 

“Why won’t you let me….?” Tony started.

Gibbs shook his head. “There’s nothing for you to be forgive for, Tony.”

“I didn’t have your six. I wasn’t there….” Tony asked exasperated. Of course, he had screwed up. How could Gibbs NOT see that?

“That kid. He had everybody fooled, DiNozzo. It’s not your fault.” The Team Leader looked at Tony.” Could you have shot a kid? Could you really, even if it was to save me?”

Tony just looked at Gibbs for a second. It hadn’t dawned on the younger agent that he could have had to shoot a kid.

“See, you couldn’t have done it either. And, at any rate, I’m okay.” Gibbs replied. “look, DiNozzo. This is not on you. I don’t blame you for anything. Nobody would have thought that kid capable of anything like what he did.”

Tony shook his head. “I should have….”

“You should have what, Tony? Shot that kid? You couldn’t a have done that and lived with yourself. Neither could I.” Gibbs reasoned.

“I just….”

Gibbs shook his head again. “No Tony, this was…this was a wake-up call for me. Getting shot…I just…. I realized a few things. I realized that I’ve made this job, NCIS, my life.” He paused. “And I…I saw you were doing the same thing. I don’t want this…my life, to happen to you.”

“Gibbs, I don’t’….”

“That’s why I asked you if you still wanted to be at NCIS, Tony.” The team Leader explained. “I wanted to know if you were going to make the job your life. I wanted to know if you were going to forsake having a life, any kind of life, for NCIS.” He paused again. “You deserve a life, Anthony. You deserve something besides this.”

“So do you.”

Gibbs grinned. “I had my life, Tony. When Shannon and Kelly were alive, I had my life. They were my life. They were it. The rest, the other wives were…things to fill a hole. This job…the only reason I took the job was for revenge. And, you know, I thought…. I thought it would make things right. It would take way the hurt and the pain, if…if I just got my revenge.” He sighed. “It didn’t help. That hole was still there, and it was, in no way, filled.”

Tony was surprised to see tears in the older man’s eyes.

“Then I met a young Italian beat cop. And I saw the spark in his eyes that used to be in mine. And I saw what I had been missing. I had a purpose. This young man needed to know what it meant to be a NCIS agent.” Gibbs stated.

“Maybe I still don’t know it all.”

Gibbs laughed at that one. “You know enough.”

 

AN: Now I realize, some of you will say that Gibbs would not make those confessions. And he would, most certainly, never talk that much. But, my contention is that the NEW Gibbs might. At any rate, I hope that you enjoyed. JL

 

More “Episodes’ To Come!


	2. Chapter 2

PART 16

Episode 60—Unsure of exact episode. Thanks to Carol123 for the suggestion.

Tim looked at Abby. “You’ve said that a couple of times. You know that it’s not true, right?”

“Gibbs would never lie to me.” Abby asserted.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t. But, is it possible you took what he said wrong.”

Abby just looked at Tim, unsure of what he meant.

“Tony was a detective, Abby. In the Baltimore Police Department, a detective. I think he already knew how to investigate a crime scene.” Tim explained.

“Not the way Gibbs does it.” Abby retorted.

“Probably not. Nobody does things the way Gibbs does.” Tim sighed. “All Gibbs did was show Tony how NCIS did it.”

“The Bossman taught Tony how to do his job.” Abby insisted.

“Gibbs taught Tony NCIS’s procedure to evidence collection and preservation.”

“He taught you all…you, Cate, Ziva, and Elle how….”

“Actually, Abby, Gibbs didn’t. Tony taught us how to do our jobs.” Tim paused. “If it’s was like you said, Gibbs would have taught Tony all he needed to know in a few weeks. And then Tony would have turned out to taught us. Nobody learns that quickly. Even Tony, and he is a fast learner. Plus, that is not how things are done.”

Tim gave Abby a moment to digest what he said before he continued.

“If what you’re saying is true. Then a seasoned Marine and experienced agent would have turned an inexperienced agent, with no background in law enforcement, out to teach fellow green agents. Do you really think Gibbs would have done that?”

“Why are you…?” 

“Because Tony was a good teacher with me. I didn’t realize it then, how good. He never got the credit.” Tim corrected her. “Gibb never spent the first day teaching us.

“Tony’s heard me say that, many times.” Abby stated. “Why didn’t he ever correct me?”

Tim looked at her and then they said it together. “He’s Tony!”

Abby sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him the next time he comes down here.” She shooed him out the door. “Go, I have work to do.”

The End

 

Episode 61—‘The Good Wives Club’ episode.

 

Kate picked the brochure with the artist rendering of the 50s Women up. She thumbed though the pages, not really reading the contents. She shook her head and tossed it back on Tony’s desk. The agent was surprised to see Gibbs watching her.

The team lead sighed. “You honestly think DiNozzo is a chauvinist pig?”

Kate just looked at Gibbs as he shook his head.

Gibbs chucked and then turned back to his computer screen.

Kate stared for a moment. “How can I not?”

Gibbs chuckled and shook his head, again.

Kate was getting frustrated. She could not see what it was that was so funny.

“Is it even, just the tiniest bit possible that Tony knows that that stuff gets to you? Isn’t it possible that he knows you are a strong woman and that you abhor the stereotype? And, therefore, by PRETENDING to possess those traits…?”

“Pretending…?” Kate said, as if the thought just dawned on her.

“Yeah,” Gibbs said, getting up from his desk and coming over to hers. “You have seen how Tony treats the women around here. He may talk a good game. But, he ACTS the way he does because he knew how much it irritates you. It’s all part of his teaching method.”

“And what is he teaching me, acting like an ass?” Kate said, the curse word out her mouth before she realized it. 

Gibbs didn’t even seem to notice. “He’s toughening you up for those who really feel that way. For those who think women are second-class citizens. Especially in ANY position associated with the military. Believe me, Kate, they are still out there. He wants you to be able to handle them. He wants you to be able to hold your own with any of them.”

“I’ve already dealt with them. In the treasury, in the Secret Service.”

“That’s…it’s a different environment, Kate. The military is a whole different ballgame. It’s in-your-face, brutal. You need to be able to deal with that and not back down.”

Kate nodded and smiled. She understood. 

“Thank you.” She said after she had caught up to Tony as they headed out of the building to yet another crime scene..

 

THE END


End file.
